U.S. patent number 6,653,864 [Application Number 10/120,373] was granted by the patent office on 2003-11-25 for interface.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha. Invention is credited to Tooru Iwagami, Hiroshi Sakata, Shinya Shirakawa.
United States Patent |
6,653,864 |
Iwagami , et al. |
November 25, 2003 |
Interface
Abstract
In an interface between a high-active driving circuit for
driving a predetermined semiconductor power element and a
microcomputer for controlling an output signal of the driving
circuit, the microcomputer comprises a transistor, a collector
terminal of which is an output side of the microcomputer; and the
driving circuit comprises a first resistor, one end of which is
directly connected with the output side of the microcomputer; a
Schmidt circuit which is connected in series with the other end of
the first resistor; a diode, an anode side of which is connected to
a path between the first resistor and the Schmidt circuit; a power
supply voltage connected with a cathode side of the diode; and a
second resistor, one end of which is grounded and the other end of
which is connected with a side of the first resistor being an input
terminal of the driving circuit.
Inventors: |
Iwagami; Tooru (Tokyo,
JP), Sakata; Hiroshi (Tokyo, JP),
Shirakawa; Shinya (Tokyo, JP) |
Assignee: |
Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki
Kaisha (Tokyo, JP)
|
Family
ID: |
19011738 |
Appl.
No.: |
10/120,373 |
Filed: |
April 12, 2002 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
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Jun 5, 2001 [JP] |
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2001-169696 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
326/82; 326/63;
327/205 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H03K
17/08142 (20130101); H03K 19/017545 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
H03K
19/0175 (20060101); H03K 17/0814 (20060101); H03K
17/08 (20060101); H03K 019/017 () |
Field of
Search: |
;326/63,80,82,83,86
;327/205 ;340/648 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Chang; Daniel
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Oblon, Spivak, McClelland, Maier
& Neustadt, P.C.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. An interface between a high-active driving circuit for driving a
predetermined semiconductor power element and a microcomputer for
controlling an output signal of the driving circuit, said interface
for directly connecting an output side of the microcomputer and an
input side of the driving circuit, wherein: said microcomputer
comprises a transistor having a collector terminal to be the output
side of the microcomputer; and said driving circuit comprises: a
first resistor, one end of which is directly connected with the
output side of the microcomputer; a Schmidt circuit connected in a
series with the other end of the first resistor; diode, an anode
side of which is connected to a path between the first resistor and
the Schmidt circuit; a power supply voltage connected with a
cathode side of the diode; and a second resistor, one end of which
is grounded and the other end of which is connected with a side of
the first resistor being an input terminal of the driving circuit.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an interface circuit between a
microcomputer and a driving circuit for controlling an inverter
system by means of a microcomputer.
In recent years, in an inverter system to be used for motor control
or the like, for example, control with a microcomputer is generally
applied due to a demand for functional improvement. In this
technique, a more acceptable interface circuit configuration is
required between the microcomputer and a driving circuit.
Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 3, a photo coupler 24 is generally
used for insulation between a driving circuit 25 of a semiconductor
power element and a control signal output side of a microcomputer
22. As the photo coupler 24, an open collector output type of photo
coupler is mostly used, and in this output type, an output signal
from the photo coupler 24 is inverted logically with respect to its
input signal.
FIGS. 4A through 4C show a square waveform representing an output
voltage signal V.sub.om of the microcomputer in the conventional
interface circuit configuration between the microcomputer and the
driving circuit, and a square waveform representing an input
voltage signal V.sub.in of the driving circuit and a square
waveform representing an output voltage signal V.sub.o of the
driving circuit. In the interface circuit configuration between the
microcomputer and the driving circuit, when the input voltage
signal V.sub.in of the driving circuit 25 is in a low level, the
output voltage signal V.sub.o of the driving signal 25 is brought
into a high level so that the output voltage signal V.sub.om of the
microcomputer 22 and the output voltage signal V.sub.o of the
driving circuit 25, namely, an input voltage signal to the
semiconductor power element are homeomorphous signals (so-called
low-active operation).
Incidentally, in the case where HVIC (high Voltage IC) is applied
as the driving circuit of the semiconductor power element, as shown
in FIG. 5, the photo coupler is not used and the driving circuit
can be directly connected with the microcomputer. In this
configuration, one end of a resistor R3 is connected with a line
which connects the driving circuit 25 and the microcomputer 22.
Moreover, a pull-up power supply voltage E.sub.p is provided on the
other end of the resistor R3.
However, in the current situation, also in the case where HVIC is
applied as the driving circuit, a configuration using the photo
coupler (see FIG. 3) similarly to the conventional technique, or a
configuration where, as shown in FIG. 5, the driving circuit 25 is
directly connected with the microcomputer 22 and a control signal
is inverted to be output on the side of the microcomputer 22 is
used. As a result, the low-active system is mostly adopted in the
driving circuit 25. In the former configuration, a characteristic
of the high-withstand voltage HVIC that the photo computer is not
necessary cannot be utilized. On the other hand, in the latter
configuration, in the case where the conventional configuration of
the low-active system driving circuit is directly adopted, when the
pull-up power supply voltage E.sub.p is higher than a power supply
voltage E.sub.m of the microcomputer 22, an excess current flows
from the pull-up power supply voltage E.sub.p into a collector of
the microcomputer 22 via the pull-up resistor R3. As a result, the
microcomputer 22 is possibly broken.
The present invention has been developed in view of the above
technical drawback and its object to provide an interface having
higher reliability between a driving circuit of a semiconductor
power element and a microcomputer for controlling output of the
driving circuit.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In an aspect of the invention, there is provided an interface
between a high-active system driving circuit for driving a
predetermined semiconductor power element and a microcomputer for
controlling an output signal of the driving circuit, the interface
for directly connecting an output side of the microcomputer and an
input side of the driving circuit, characterized in that: the
microcomputer comprises a transistor having a collector terminal to
be the output side of the microcomputer, and the driving circuit
comprises: a first resistor, one end of which is directly connected
with the output side of the microcomputer; a Schmidt circuit
connected in a series with the other end of the first resistor; a
diode, an anode side of which is connected between the first
resistor and the Schmidt circuit; a power supply voltage connected
with a cathode side of the diode; and a second resistor, one end of
which is grounded and the other end of which is connected with a
side of the first resistor being an input terminal of the driving
circuit.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an interface circuit configuration
between a microcomputer and a driving circuit according to an
embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2A shows a square waveform representing an output voltage
signal V.sub.om of the microcomputer;
FIG. 2B shows a square waveform representing an output voltage
signal V.sub.o of the driving circuit;
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing one example of a conventional interface
circuit configuration between a microcomputer and a driving
circuit;
FIG. 4A shows a square waveform representing an output voltage
signal V.sub.om of the microcomputer in the conventional interface
circuit configuration between the microcomputer and the driving
circuit;
FIG. 4B shows a square waveform representing an input voltage
signal V.sub.in of the driving circuit in the conventional
interface circuit configuration between the microcomputer and the
driving circuit;
FIG. 4C shows a square waveform representing an output voltage
signal V.sub.o of the driving circuit in the conventional interface
circuit configuration between the microcomputer and the driving
circuit; and
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing another example of the conventional
interface circuit configuration between the microcomputer and the
driving circuit.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
There will be explained below an embodiment of the present
invention with reference to the attached drawings.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an interface circuit configuration
between a microcomputer and a driving circuit according to the
embodiment of the present invention. The microcomputer 2 and the
driving circuit 5 control an inverter system to be used for motor
control or the like. An output voltage signal V.sub.o from the
driving circuit 5 to a semiconductor power element (not shown) is
controlled by an output voltage signal V.sub.om from the
microcomputer 2. As the driving circuit 5, a high-active system
driving circuit in which a logic is effective when an input signal
is in a digital high level is adopted.
The microcomputer 2 has transistors Tr1 and Tr2 and a power supply
voltage E.sub.m. In this embodiment, an emitter terminal of the
transistor Tr1 is connected with the power supply voltage E.sub.m,
and an emitter terminal of the transistor Tr2 is grounded.
Moreover, collector terminals of the transistors Tr1 and Tr2 serve
as an output terminal of the microcomputer 2.
Meanwhile, the driving circuit 5 has an input circuit section 6
which is composed of a power supply voltage E.sub.d, a diode, first
and second resistors R1 and R2 and a Schmidt circuit 7, a main
circuit section and another circuit section 8 which are provided on
a side closer to the output side than the input circuit 6. In the
input circuit section 6, an anode side of the diode D1 is connected
to a path between the first resistor R1 on the input side and the
Schmidt circuit 7 on the output side which are connected in series.
A cathode side of the diode D1 is connected with the power supply
voltage E.sub.d. Moreover, an input side of the first resistor R1
is connected with one end of the second resistor R2. The other end
of the second resistor R2 is grounded.
In the present embodiment, an output side of the microcomputer 2 is
directly connected with an input side of the driving circuit 5.
According to said interface circuit configuration between the
microcomputer 2 and the driving circuit 5, since the input side of
the driving circuit 5 is grounded at the second resistor R2, an
excess current does not flow from the output terminal into the
microcomputer 2. Further, in this case, it is not necessary to
change the circuit configuration element according to a change in
the output signal level of the microcomputer 2.
FIGS. 2A and 2B show square waveforms representing the output
voltage signal V.sub.om from the microcomputer 2 and the output
voltage signal V.sub.o of the driving circuit 5. As is clear from
the drawings, according to the interface circuit configuration
between the microcomputer 2 and the driving circuit 5, since the
output side of the microcomputer 2 is directly connected with the
input side of the driving circuit 5, the output voltage signal
V.sub.om of the microcomputer 2 and the output voltage signal
V.sub.o of the driving circuit become homeomorphous signals.
As mentioned above, in the interface circuit configuration between
the microcomputer 2 and the driving circuit 5 according to the
present embodiment, while the microcomputer 2 can be directly
connected with the driving circuit 5 without requiring additive
configuration, an excess current can be prevented from flowing into
the microcomputer 2. As a result, the interface with higher
reliability can be realized therebetween.
The present invention is not limited to the exemplified embodiment,
and needless to say, various modifications and alternations in
design can be made within the scope of gist of the invention.
As is clear from the above explanation, according to the present
invention, since the input side of the driving circuit is ground at
the second resistor, an excess current does not flow from the
output terminal into the microcomputer. As a result, the interface
with higher reliability can be realized between the microcomputer
and the driving circuit.
* * * * *